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A CHAPTER FROM THE SECRET 



HISTORY OF THE WAR. 



/^'~'^ PuiLADELrniA, September 21, 18G4. 

MY DEAR SIR :— 

Our acquaintance and all of the relations that have ever existed between us are confined 
to two or throe accidental meetings; at one of which yon were pleased to refer to the lasting- 
impression made upon you when a poor boy by the kindness of my father, who always took 
you by the hand and gave you cheering, friendly words of encouragement and advice. You 
were pleased to acknowledge to the son, the kind and valualde influences received by you from 
the father, and to proffer your friendly services whenever they would be acceptable. 

Under the above circumstances, you prepared for me and my friends no ordinary surprise 
when you deliberately composed, delivered, and published in The Press, of the 2;!d inst., a 
voluntary unprovoked attack upon me in the following words : — 

"It got out that the President was determined to have the army moved, and it was found 
that General McClellan had no plan; and here I may state that we owe the Peninsula ciun- 
paign to those distinguished Senators, Latham of (Jalifornia, and Pice of Minnesota, and a 
brigadier in the column of Joseph Hooker. Gen. jNlcClellan's plan was concocted by others, 
and put into his hands. It was agreed on in a council of war. Phat plan was submitted to 
the President. It was submitted in the presence of Secretary Stanton. Stanton put them 
through a strict course of examination. One General, Blenker, owned that he did not under- 
stand the plan, but would sustain it, as he thought he had to obey the mandates of his chief. 
General Naglee was one of those present, and Stanton observed that he had but one star. 
' Sir,' said Mr. Stanton, ' yon have no right here !' ' I am representing General Hooker,' said 
he. It was afterwards found out that General Naglee was absent without leave, and that 
fighting Joe Hooker knew nothing of the council." [Applause.] 

Now, my dear sir, this statement is simply false, and on the part of your friend, Mr. Edwin 
M. Stanton, Secretary of War, maliciously false. 

The Peninsular campaign was not indicated by " Senators Latham of California, and Rice 
of Minnesota, and a brigadier in the column of Joseph Hooker," as asserted by you. (general 
Naglee was at Washington with proper leave, and with the full knowledge of General Hooker, 
and was a member of the council of war by direction of General McClellan. to represent the 
division of the army at Budd's Ferry, in the absence of General Hooker, who was too far 
removed from Washington to be present. And unfortunately for the veracity of Mr. vStanton, 
the impertinent remarks which you ascribe to him could not have been made, for there were 
no officers of the council of war entitled at that tiuie to more than one star. 

Now, Judge, you know, or should know, that the reputation of Mr. Stanton for truth and 
veracity is not above suspicion, and that you may well believe anything that may be said 
regarding his great incivility and rudeness, for, not excei)ting yourself, I have never seen or 
heard of an officer or civilian who did not condemn him for the utter want of all of the 
requisites of a gentleman. 

This is not the first time Mr. Stanton has been guilty of the most deliberate, malicious 
misrepresentation, and for your gratification I will rehxte an instance that occurred upon my 
arrival in Washington, immediately after the conclusion of " the Seven Days' Fight," in the 
beginning of July of 18G2, and when I was surprised to learn that dui'ing the continuance of 
that desperate struggle, and during the time of dreadful suspense, whilst nothing could be 
heard of General McClellan and his gallant army, Mr. Stanton had everywhere denounced 
General McClellan as a traitor to his country, and as incapable of commanding a regiment. 
I learned this from a number of the members of Congress, who were astonished and con- 
founded, and who with pain eagerly sought from me some explanation of such extraordinary 
conduct. I could render them no satisfaction, but reported the circumstances to General 
ISlcClellan, upon my arrival at his headquarters on the following day, the 8th of July. His 
surprise. Judge, was greater than mine ; without uttering a word, he turned to his portfolio, 
took from it a letter which he placed before me, and said : " Read that ; I have just received 
it from Mr. Stanton." 

With his consent, I made a copy of the letter, and, returning to Washington, placed it in 
the hands of those who had heard the denunciations of Mr. Stanton, and who had advised me 
of them. They desired to read it to the Senate, and to publish the outrage and the vindica- 
tion, and they telegraphed to Gen. McClellan for his permission, which he declined to give 
them. The following is a copy of the letter: — 

AVar Department, Washington, D. C, July 5, 18G2. 
Dear Gexeral: I had a talk with General jSlarcy. and meant to have written you by him, 
but am called to the country, where Mrs. Stanton is with her children, to see one of them die. 
I can, therefore, only say, my dear General, in this brief moment, that there is no cause in my 
heart or conduct for the cloud that wicked men have raised between us for their own base 
and selfish purposes. No man had ever a truer friend than I have been to you, and shall con- 
tinue to be. You are seldom absent from my thoughts, and I am ready to make any sacrifice 
to aid you. Time allows me to say no more than that I pray Almighty God to deliver you 
and your army from all peril, and lead you on to victory. 

Yours, truly, Edwin M. Stantox. 

Now, Judge, what think yon of this man, who. made Secretary of War by the request and 
influence of Gen. McClellan, was vilifying and aliasing and uttering falsehoods against him, 
and who could at the same time sit down and deliberately write such a letter ? 



You have rcfen-ed to tlie council of war held in Washington in March of 1862. Every 
cftbrt has been made, in vain, to bring the proceedings of that council before the public. A 
call was naade for them in the House of Representatives, and was tabled by the Republican 
])arty. A request made by the recorder of that council, of Mr. Stanton, to allow him to have 
tlio proceedings made up in ])roper form, was refused in a most rude and insulting manner, 
fud the papeis have never been allowed to leave his possession since. . 

Now, Judge, for your especial benefit, I will relate the history of that important event, that 
you may. if you will, do justice to all concerned. 
The council of war consisted of 

Brig.-Gen. Sumner, Brig. -Gen. Keves, 

McDowell, '• A. 'Porter, 

" Franklin, " W. F. Smith, 

F. J. Porter, " Barnard, 

McCall, " Blenker, 

" Ileintzelmnn, " Naglee. 

Each entitled to but "one star." It was called together by order of (jlen. McClellan on the 
uiglit of March 7th, 1862, to convene at 10 A.M. on the following day. 

(ien. j\IcClellan cnme into the council room at the hour appointed, and, placing on the table 
a large map. e.\i)laincd his proposed Peninsular Campaign, which l)eforc this time I believe to 
li-.ive been known to no one present excepting Gen. Franklin and probably Fitz J. Porter. 
Upon retiring, he left upon the table, for the consideration of the council, the following 
incpiiries :— 

I. Whether it is advisable that the base of operations shall be changed, the transportation 
l)t'iiig ready at Anna])olis in all of ne.xt week. 

II. AVhether it is better to make an advance to the front before changing the base, should 
sucli a change be determined upon. 

III. Whether a forward movement, with tlie object of destroying the river batteries, is 
advisable, and when it can be commenced, and whetlier the naval force, with the assistance of 
the Ericsson battery, can alone accomplish that object. 

After a session of three hours, the council were summoned to appear before the President, 
lie advised them that he was quite unwell and exceedingly nervous, that the pressure had 
been intense against Gen. McClellan. He expressed himself gratified to have the opportunity 
to see and know the officers of the army, and to be instructed by them in regard to army 
matters, which were to him very incomprehensible. 

1 informed him that, as recorder of the council of war which had held its session by order 
of Gen. ^IcClellan, I would advise him of the result of its proceedings, and then read them to 
liim. " What," said he. '■ have the council decided by a vote of eight to four — two to one — 
in favor of the Peninsular Campaign ?" He then asked many questions in regard to the same, 
until JNlr. Stanton came in. and 1 proposed to read the proceediogstohim. lie replied, "Give 
me the papers, I'll read them myself," and, after reading them over and preparing his notes, 
he. as you say, "put them (the council) through the strict course of examination" which you 
refer to. This examination, made for the purpose of neutralizing the effect of the decision of 
the council of war on the mind of the President, and thus of carrying out the objects of those 
who had been insisting upon the removal of Gen. McClellan, lasted for four or five hours, 
dm ing which time it was only interrupted by an occasional expression of the President, indi- 
cating his satisfaction and gratification at the many explanations of military movements con- 
templated, and which he had not bcl'ore been able to comprehend. 

It was now getting dark. Mr. Stanton's questions indicated api)roaching exhaustion, and 
finding there was a silence which called for a cessation of hostilities on his part for the night, 
Mr. Lincoln expressed himself highly gratified with the interview, said he was impressed with 
the earnestness and intelligence of the officers present, and that he had every confidence in 
them. He was now determined not to remove Gen. McClellan, as he had promised to do, but 
that he should make his campaign, as approved by the council of war, under restrictions, 
which he would make known on the following morning, at ten o'clock, when he desired the 
]u-('sence of all of the officers of the council, and until after which time he desired that none 
of them should leave the city. 

Belbre leaving the Presidint. the Recorder of the Council apjiroached the Secretary, and 
said: "If you please, Mr. Stanton, permit me to have the proceedings of the Council of War 
that they may be copied in a fair hand, and (^en. Sumner, the President of the Council, will 
sign them, the Recorder will sign them, and they will then be in proper form." " I'm just as 
good a judge of the form as you are," was the reply of your friend. 

Other incivilities have been attempted by Mr. Stanton towards me, the manner and result 
of which he has neither forgotten nor forgiven, and which he may relate to you whenever he 
may feel so disjtosed. 

Cn the f(dlowing morning at the appointed hour, when all of tlie officers of the Council of 
War had assembled. Mr. Lincoln said, "I have slept better than for two weeks. I feel re- 
lieved of an immense responsibility. I have determined upon the following programme" — 
wiiich he submitted -verbally, and which was substantially as follows: — 

" 1 will permit Gen. McClellan to carry out his campaign. He shall leave sufficient force 
to defend the works before AV'ashington. He shall emlnirk .■')(),0U0 men from Annapolis, and 
then, unless the Ijatteries on the Potomac, which you assure mo will necessarily be abandoned. 



/6rj ^ 

arc witlidrawn or silenced, I shall reserve my anlhority to embark other troops." He then 
said, "I have determined to divide Gen. McClellan's army into four corps, and I shall appoint 
the commanders of them." And afterwards he promoted the four officers who had opposed 
Gen. McClellan's campaign, three of whom he appointed to the command of corps, and, with 
the exception of Gens. Franklin and Smith, who have been the subjects of constant annoy- 
ance and indignities since, the others have all been dismissed from the arini/. 

The Peninsular campaign was proposed by Gen. McClellan whilst commander-in-chief of 
the armies of the United States, and was intended to be made with the forces then under his 
command in Eastern Virginia, estimated at over 200,000 men. It was so accepted by the 
President, and the movement was commenced upon that basis. Gen. McClellan had scarcely 
left AV'ashington to take the field, when the Secretary of War relieved him of all the armies 
not under his, General McClellan's, immediate command, and assumed command of them 
himself. The troops left in northeastern Virginia were placed under the command of 
McDowell, Banks. Fremont, and Sigel, each being independent of the other, and of General 
McClellan, and all subject to the order of Mr. Stanton. Whilst the above division of our 
army was taking place, the Confederates concentrated theirs until, on the 2Ctth day of June, 
Gen. McClellan found himself before Richmond with 85,000 men (including McCall's division), 
and was attacked by the concentrated Confederate force of 175,000 at the very moment when 
McDowell, under protest, withdrew his assistance from McClellan, by the orders of the Pi"e- 
sident and Secretary of War. 

The Campaign under General Grant did not commence until the 4th of May, 18G4. That of 
Chancellorsville, in which the casualties were estimated at 30,000 men, and in which, but 
for the providential killing of Stonewall Jackson, our army would have been annihilated, was 
planned by the President and Gen. Hooker, or, to use the President's own words, by "Joe 
and T," of which the Secretary of War and General Halleck were kept profoundly ignorant, 
and was not commenced until May 2, 18G3 ; whilst that of the Peninsula, for the delay of 
which Gen. McClellan was so much censured, was commenced on the 25th of March, 1862, 
forty days in advance of either of the others. 

Why this bitter enmity and persecution of General McClellan, why in the beginning of 
INIarch was the President pressed to death to remove him, even before he had made his first 
trial in command of the Army of the Potomac? Why did a distinguished member of the 
Senate on the 17th of March, write to me : -'The cry against McClellan is increasing; every 
effort is being made to crush him"? What possible cliance had General McClellan to succeed, 
when his own government did every thing in their power to embarrass his movements, and 
break him down? One would think his task sufficiently onerous, laborious, and responsible, 
when, without experience, after the first disastrous rout at Bull Run, he reorganized the 
armies of the United States and was preparing to fight them without the additional convic- 
tion being forced upon him at every step that his own government was determined "to 
crush him." 

Judge, you and I met within ten days after the dreadful battles before Richmond. You 
attacked Gen. McClellan with a bitterness and feeling that ill became a Christian gentleman. 
I then begged you not to break down Gen. IMcClellan until you had given him a fair trial, and 
until you had found a better man, and challenged you to name a better general. I now do 
the same thing, and appeal to the record of the past thirty months and to the rivers of blood 
that have flown since to sustain what I then asserted. I refer you to the opinions of foreign 
officers, and I assure you that among the old officers of the army I shall be fully sustained. 

The preference of Gen. McClellan for the Peninsular campaign and the condemnation of 
the President's plan have been fully sustained. The families and friends of the 130.000 men 
lost south of the Rapidan since the 4th of May last proclaim it everywhere. Mr. Stanton 
told the country, at that time, he had a hundred'thousand men more than he wanted, and now 
he tells you he wants a hundred thousand more men. 

General Grant crossed the Rapidan with an army variously estimated from one 

hundred and eighty thousand to . . . • • • • 120,000 

He afterwards added Butler's ....••• 40,000 

He was reinforced ,.....••• 45,000 

flaking, exclusive of Sigel's 30,000 205,000 

On the 1st of September our forces were estimated, exclusive of Sheridan's 30,000, at 50,000 

Gen. Lee had on the Rapidan, after he had concentrated his army . . 85,000 

Beauregard joined him at Richmond with his forces from the South, which, wHh 

those near Petersburg, amounted to . . . • • • 30,000 

Breckinridge brought ......•• 10,000 

And Lee was reinforced probably ....••• 30,000 

Making in all "^'"^-'!I!!!! 

On the 1st of September his forces were estimated, at Richmond, at . . 45,000 

Exclusive of P/arly's command ..;..•• 30,000 

Showing the discharges and loss from Grant to be . . • • 1:^0,000 

And that of Lee to be . ... 85,090 

I 



Judge Kelley, were the records of the Council of War, and that of ".the strict course of 
examination" made by Mr. Stanton, indicatin<>- the very difficulties and dreadful losses Gen. 
(iiant has lately sustained, ever placed before'him ? And why not ? And who is responsible 
for the 100,000 men unnecessarily and wickedly sacrificed south of the Kapidan, in the 
experiment made to prove that Gen. McClellan and the Council of War were wrong, and that 
the President's plan was right? 

The army of the United States, as you found it at the commencement of this war, was 
composed of a high-toned, intelligent, honoralile, gallant set of men, fully etpuil to the con- 
test before them ^they had always studiously avoided all political connections ; many of them 
had been thirty years "in the service of their'couutry, and had never voted. 'I'hey held their 
countrv and tliehonor and integrity of it before every other consideration. Had a rule been 
adopte'd requiring that no political subject should be introduced into the army, but that all 
political rights should be respected, aiid liad army officers only been held res))onsiblc for the 
conduct of the war, it would have terminated long ago. 

Why have McClellan, and Sedgwick, and McFherson, and Bayard, and Franklin, and 
Bucll, and Meade, and Averill, and the Porters, and Abercrombie, and French, and Gilmore, 
and Thomas, and AV. F. Smith, and Brooks, and Sykes, and Newton, and a score of other 
general officers, with hundreds, if not thousands, of officers of an inferior grade, been offended 
and held back, and many of them dismissed from the army without a word of explanation, an 
arl)itrary act unknown in Great Britain, whilst Pope, and Burnside. and Hooker, and Butler, 
and Hunter, and Banks, and Sigel. and Sickels, and Foster, and Schenck, and Wallace, and 
Busteed, and Milroy, and hundreds of others, certainly no better than the former, have been 
preferred? Why was Gen. Stone, than whom there is not a more loyal man, and accom- 
])lished gentleman, and gallant soldier in the country, confined in prison for fifteen months? 
And when released by an act of Congress, why was it that neither the President, nor Secre- 
tary of War, nor Secretary of State, or other persons at Washington would assent to any 
knowledge or any participation in the arrest ? Such outrages are calculated to break down 
ihe honour and esprit, da corps of any army, and all luxve looked on with disgust, and horror, and 
pain at the shameful injustice and outrages that have been continually heaped upon so many 
of their old friends and comrades in arms, whom they know incapable of an ungentlemanly, 
dishonoral)le. unsoldierly, or disloyal act. 

Why did the Committee on the Conduct of the War investigate and falsify with such nice 
precision the conduct of McClellan and his friends, and overlook the volumes of charges 
tiled in the War Dei)artment against Fremont, and Sigel, and Hunter, and others, and 
entirely overlook the immense slaughter at ChanccUorsville, and Fredericksliurg, and south 
of theRajiidan? Why did a secret political inquisition, with no other pretext than that 
they suspected him of political ambition, sit over five hundred days and manufacture over 
seventeen iiundred pages of ex parte testimony against a young officer, a Christian gentleman, 
an honest man, who, heaven only knows, never had but one purpose and that to serve his 
country and his God? 

You know, Judge, that whilst in Washington General McClellan studiously avoided all 
political association, and to such an extent that many of his friends of both parties were 
much ofi'ended. 

The first knowledge that I ever had of any political aml)ition on his part was after he had 
been retired from active service and sent in disgrace to New Jersey, and this was after liis 
fitness for the succession had been discovered by Mr. Lincoln, and the ])eople had signified 
their affection for him. His letters and orders have been called political, but they were emi- 
nently proper, and refer entirely to the military ])olicy of tlie country. But, Judge, suppose 
we admit that General McClellan had an ambition to be President of the United States, was 
it not a laudable ambition, and is there any impropriety in it ? Is the field not open to him 
as well as to Mr. Lincoln, or ^\v. Fremont, or Mr. Chase, or the many others infinitely his 
inferiors ? 

So far as the objections to his military (jualifications are concerned we have only to remind 
you that, within the last sixty days, a confidential friend of the President was sent to offer 
iiim one of the most important commands of the army. But this proposition was coupled 
with the most dishonoraldc condition that lie should decline to l)e a candidate for the Presi- 
fllency. General McClellan restrained his indignation, and replied to the bearer of the message, 
" Go back to Washington, and say to the President for me, that when 1 receive my official 
written orders he sliall have my answer." 

Beware, Judge, of the intemperate abuse of your political opponents, as proud and loyal 
as you are, who would rather see the Continent of America sink into the ocean, with all timt 
dwells upon it, than see our nationality destroyed; who will not endure this constant usurpa- 
tion of authority and encroachment upon their rights, and whom yt)u may drive into a dreadful 
conflict, in which the abolitionist and the negro may find themselves arrayed against all who 
will unitedly stand, hand in hand, and shoulder to shoulder, in defence of the Constitution 
and the fundamental laws of the land. 



A'ery respectfully, 

HENRY M. NAGLEE. 



To Hoy. WILLIAM P. KELLKY, 

PllILADKLnilA. 



Second Chapter from the Secret History of the War. 



Philadelphia, October 6, 1864. 

My Dear Sir: I once went hunting, and fired at a miseliievous, chattering chipmnnck, and 
found when the smoke had cleared away, that the chipmunck, although badly wounded, made 
a great pretence that he was not hurt at all. But, strange to say, when firing at the lesser 
game, I had hit a fox, and that fox, one of the most cunning, destructive animals thai had 
ever infested the neighborhood. Would you believe it, 1 never stopped to listen to the chip- 
munck, but loaded again for the fox. 

Now, Judge, the moral : Without a word or an act on my part to justify it, you attacked 
me, and I responded ; although winged, you declared you are not hurt, but the President and 
Secretary, I am informed, are hurt, the latter mortally ; the former so badly hurt that 
I shall let you flutter until I try another load Look on, Judge, be quiet; await your time ; I 
have ammunition for both the fox and the chipmunck. - 

In the Press, the North American, and the Inquirer, and in all of ihe Republican news- 
papers of the country, I have found the following: — 

GENERAL NAGLEE'S LETTER. 

ONE OF HIS STATEMENTS ABOUT PRESIDENT LINCOLN AUTHORITATIVELY DENIED. 

From the National Bepublican [offi.cial), Oct. 3. 

"The copperhead press of the country are giving circulation to a letter addressed by General 
Naglee to Hon. William D. Kelley, of Philadelphia, in which the author, speaking of General 
McClellan, makes the following statement : — 

'So far as the objections to his military qualifications are concerned, I have only to remind 
you that, within the last sixty days, a confidential friend of the President was sent to offer 
him one of the most important commands of the army. But this proposition was coupled 
with the most dishonorable condition — that he should decline to be a candidate for the Presi- 
dency. General McClellan restrained his indignation, and replied to the bearer oF the message, 
" Go back to Washington, and say to the President for me, that when I receive my official 
written orders, he shall have my answer." ' 

"We are authorized to say that the President has no recollection of sending any message 
or messenger to General McClellan, or of receiving any from him, at any time since he was 
relieved of the command of the Array of the Potomac, and certainly none such as mentioned 
in the published letter of General Naglee. If the President sent a message in writing, the 
writing can be produced ; if a messenger, he can be named. Let either be done if it can." 

To this I answer, that before the assembling of the Chicago Convention, about the middle 
of August, the President sent one of his old and confidential friends to propose to McClellan, 
that if he would decline to be a candidate for the Presidency before the Chicago Convention, 
and would consent to throw the weight of his influence, with the Democratic party, in favor 
of the Republican nominee, he should have any position, civil or military, in the gift of the 
President ivhen re-elected, and that the lohole injiuence of the next Administration should he 
throivn in his (McClellayi's) favor for the succession. 

Pardon me. Judge, but hold still just one moment longer, that I may inform you. that prior 
to this, there was a written correspondence between the son of this confidential old friend of 
the President, and a prominent Democrat, making substantially the same proposition. Now, 
in connection with the above, let me call the attention of your friends to the following extract, 
from the published speech of the Hon. Montgomery Blair, made since my letter to you of the 
2Tth of September, was written : — 

" On his (Vallandigham's) motion, every voice that had been raised to fury against the 
nomination of McClellan was silenced, and the vote in his favor made unanimous. There was 
a potent spell in his voice that made 'a cessation of hostilities,' 'a Convention of the States," 
of course as equals and independent, and a quondam chief of the Federal army — (one whom 
to the last I believed to be true to the cause in which his country ist'mbarked, and, I may add, 
luhom the President held to he patriotic, and had concerted ivith General Grant to bring 
again into the field as his adjunct, if he turned his back on the proposals of the peace junto 
at Chicago)— io lead the last assault pressed by the Southern conspirators, countenanced by 
foreign Powers, against the institutions of the country." 

liCt us rejoice. There is some hope for our country. Let us rejoice that we have found 
one honest man, one who would not sell himself, and betray his country, and who, amidst the 
most outrageous persecution that ever a strong government inflicted upon a single, unsup- 
ported, inexperienced young officer, had the courage to resent a disgraceful bribe and insult. 



You have afTirnioil and re-afTlrmed. that General ^[cClellan had no plan, and that finally 
about the end ofFeliruarv he had. to use your own words, exhausted the President's stock of 
patience; but that the President had in the kindness of his heart determined to aive Gen. 
McC'lellan a chance to redeem himself from utter ridicule, and had piven him ten days in which 
to propose a plausible plan of a campaign. It was then you said "he had no plan, and that 
■when several of the promised ten days had passed he was still without a plan." You further 
say that General Naglee received a communication from a Democratic senator, !Mr. Latham, 
of California, which let him (Gen. Na>ilee) know that General McClellan was in danj^er of 
removal, because he bad stipulated to submit apian of campaign "within a certain number of 
days, and would be removed if he did not, and recpiested" him (Naglee) "to hasten to Wash- 
ington." And now, Judge, listen to the truth. No doubt, having indulged so freely in fiction, 
the truth will be a little distasteful to you, but, as a favor to me. listen to it until I have done, 
after which, so far as 1 am concerned, you may resume your natural inclinations. 

First, then, for the purpose of falsifying- your declarations, read the following: — 

Executive Mansion, \ 
Washington, Feb. 3, 1862. j 

My Dear Sir : You and I have distinct and different plans for a movement of the Army of 
the Potomac ; yours to be done by the Chesapeake, up the Rappahannock to Urbana, and 
across land to the terminus of the railroad on the York Eiver; mine to move directly to a 
point on the railroad ^outhwcst of Manassas. 

If you will give satin/actory answers to the following questions, I shall gladly yield my plan 
to yours: 

1st. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of time and money than 
mine ? 

2d. Wherein is a victory more certain by your plan than mine? 

iid. AVherein is a victory more valuable by your plan than mine? 

4th. In fact, would it not be less valualile in this : that it would break no great line of the 
enemy's communications, while mine would ? 

5th. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more difficult by your plan than mine? 

Yours, truly, Abraham Lincoln. 

Major-General McClellan. ' 

And for the further refutation and falsification of what you have said, I hereby assert what 
I know to be true. During the month of January, 18G2, General McClellan had been very 
ill. The President became very restive under the outside pressure which demanded, through 
the Repuldican press, that the army should " on to Richmond," and was about to consent to 
some movement proposed by General ^McDowell. On hearing this, General McClellan arose 
from his sick bed and proceeded to the Presidential mansion, there to join the President and 
his Cabinet, who had been assembled to meet him. He was asked by the President ''to give 
his plan of campaign." He hesitated for a moment, during which he remembered that- all 
information furnished to the cabinet found its way to the confidential friends of some of them, 
and thence by the multitude of spies that infested the AVar and other Departments it was 
forthwith communicated to the enemy, and he replied, that he would do so if the President 
ordered it. but as the President must know how immediately such information was transmitted 
to the enemy, he, McClellan, pa'ferred not to make known his plan of campaign to the Cabinet 
unless the President should ortler it, and the President declined to make the order, 

!Mr. Chase remarked to one present, that if Mac persisted in thus rel'using information, he 
was a ruined man. 

These circumstances occurred in January and on February 3d. Do you still intend to reaffirm 
"that McClellan had no plan, until the Democratic Senators, Mr. Latham and Mr. Rice, and 
a brigadier, from the column of Joseph Hooker, concocted one, and packed a council of war 
to approve of it?" on the Bth of March thereafter. 

Now, Judge, you will save yourself and friends much confusion, which you have caused 
them in following you, if you would read the orders and letters that have been published 
upon all of these military subjects, and which may all be found in your favorite work of the 
report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, or in General McClellau's Report, 
which is not so great a favorite with you. You evince, again, the most extraordinary confu- 
sion when you assert that the President gave him ton days to find a plan, and confound the 
orders I have referred to with the following order of the President: — 

" Executive Mansion, ] 
" Washington, March 8, 1862. J 

" President's General War Order, No. 8. 

*********** 

"That any movement as aforesaid, en route for a new base of operations, which may be 
ordered by the Commander-in-chief, and which may be intended to move upon the Chesapeake 
Ray. shalf begin to move upon the bay as early as the 18th of March, inst., and the General- 
in-chief shall be responsible that it moves as early as that day. 

" A. Lincoln. 

" L. Thomas, Adjutant General." 



In which you will observe, he did not order General McClellan to produce a jDlan within ten 
davs, as you assert, but that his movement should commence within ten days. 

Shifting from your original nomenclature, you now assert that the council was designated as 
a " Council of Division Commanders," and that, with the exception of General Naglee, it was 
composed of Division Generals. Now. sir, as usual, you falsify the record. There were but 
nine Division officers detailed, and it was convened by General McClellan as a "Council of 
War." 

Your voluntary, unprovoked attack made upon me on the 22d ultimo needs no denial, for 
the mere fact of my being a member of a council of war convened by order of Gen. McClellan 
shows of itself that I was on detached duty by proper authority, over which neither your 
friend Mr. Stanton nor Gen. Hooker had any control. The attack upon me under such cir- 
cumstances, as well as your assertion that Gen. McClellan had no plan until it was prepared 
for him by Senators Latham and Rice, and Gen. Naglee, on the 8th of March. 1862. in face 
of the letters and orders of the President of February 3 and March 8, herein referred to, and 
long since subjects of constant public discussion, exhibits on your part a recklessness of 
assertion and indifference of proper self-respect that few of your friends will comprehend, and 
none of them attempt to justify. 

Judge, if ever a question of veracity comes up between you and myself we alone must 
settle it, and you must not attempt to shuffle off your responsibility and place it upon others, 
nor to protect yourself behind such "well-known individuals" as "Puffer" Moore and George 
Hacker. This may have been your practice heretofore, and you may have so acted with im- 
punity, but rest assured it will not be permitted by me. 

You refer to some great surprise that General McClellan proposed to make on the rebel 
line at Brentsville, and you make out, no doubt to your satisfaction, that the success of 
the surprise depended entirely upon a certain bridge to be constructed of canal boats, 
that were to have been passed into the Potomac near Harper's Ferry ; it was found, you 
say, when the movement was about to be made, that the outlet lock was too narrow 
for the boats. Now, this surprise of Brentsville m'ay be entirely clear to you and Senators 
Wade and Johnson, but to myself and to my military friends, we cannot understand how 
the rebels in the direction of Brentsville could have been surprised by any movement in 
the direction indicated by you ; but I suppose that that is not important with you, your 
real object being only to relate the story of that obstinate canal boat, that had passed 
through all of the other locks upon the canal, but refused, in the face of the enemy, to 
pass the outlet-lock. Did it ever occur to you that an empty canal boat, in the hands 
of thousands of men. could be transferred down hill, from the canal to the river, with 
but little difficulty, and that there might have been some other reason besides the one assigned 
by you ? But, admitting all that you claim, did it never occur to you that it is not 
expected that the entire detail, attending the movement of a large army, is to be super- 
intended by the Commander thereof in person? I will even grant you that in theory you 
are» right, and that General McClellan should not have had officers attached to his staff 
who neglected to use every precaution to prevent failure. But be charitable — don't fail to 
remember the awful disappointment when that pontoon train failed to appear upon the Rap- 
pahannock, and when the vials of wrath were poured, not upon the head of the favorite of 
your party. General Burnside, but upon those of Generals Halleck, Meigs, and Woodbury; 
and again be charitable, and do not fail to remember how cai'efully you have secreted that 
more terrible blunder than ever occurred in the annals of this or any other war, by which we 
have-no less than twenty-three monitors, constructed at an expense of over twelve millions of 
dollars, which, with their armament, it was determined by the nice calculations of the naval 
engineers brought in after one of them was launched, loould float just five inches under 
ivater. Now, Judge, who is responsible for this? Again be charitable. But do not 
fail to remember that the President and " Fighting Joe Hooker" carefully concealed their 
plans even from the Commander-in-Chief and the Secretary of War to that extent that, 
whilst the battle was going on at Chancellorsville. I was informed directly, by the best au- 
thority in the premises, "that neither General Halleck nor the Secretary of War knew more 
of what was going on than I did," and " that all of the requisitions made during the prepara- 
tions for the movement, instead of going through the ordinary channels, were ordered directly 
by the President." And do you not know that, to the present hour, the country has never been 
informed that, on that occasion, Hooker and the President, with the best army that was ever 
got together, numbering no less than one hundred and sixty-five thousand men, fought Gen. 
Lee, with an army of fifty-seven thousand — lost thirty-five thousand men — were completely 
routed, and to such an extent that, as I said before, but for the providential killing of Stone- 
wall Jackson, our army would have been annihilated? Why has not Mr. Stanton told this to 
the families of the thirty-five thousand so unnecessarily slaughtered, instead of attempting to 
console them with the pitiful story that " the 11th Army (!orps gave way in confusion," and 
that "but one-third of Gen. Hooker's army had been brought into action ?" 

Why did not your Committee on the Conduct of the War exhaust a few of those five hun- 
dred days, and a portion of those seventeen hundred pages, especially devoted to General 
McClellan, upon the military successes of that great leader. General Butler, before Petersburg, 



YA 8929 



where six thousand of his men were marched prisoners into Richmond — almost without his 
knowledge — he and Mr. Stanton coolly assuring the country that there had been a great fog, 
and that it came before breakfast ? 

Before I leave your friend, Mr. Stanton. I will instance another evidence of his treachery 
to General McClellan. All know of the disasters caused by the interference of the President 
and Mr. Stanton with the Army of the Potomac. It was necessary to have a victim, and 
(ieneral McCloUan was selected and removed. A short time afterwards, Pope beinj^ placed 
in command, failed most disastrously, and Washiufrton w.as again threatened. The President 
and his Cabinet were alarmed 4o that extent that a steamer was prepared and ready to assist 
in their escape. With earnest entreaty and supplication, McClellan was solicited to assume 
command and save them and Washington. He consented — ignoring the solicitations of his 
friends, who desired that he should first insist upcm the removal of Mr. Stanton, which he 
utterly refused, replying that he would not permit any personal considerations to influence 
his conduct when the capital was in such imminent danger. He then accomplished the 
greatest military success of the war. He re-organized the demoralized army of Pope whilst 
on the march, and gained the glorious victory of Antietam. McClellan's star was again in 
tlie ascendant. Mr. Stanton begged forgiveness for the past, and promised his devoted 
friendship for the future. ^ 

Again, General McClellan's trusting nature prevailed over the advice of his friends, and the 
treacherous conduct of Mr. Stanton was forgiven by General McClellan, only to be again 
more wickedly betrayed than ever. Washington was no sooner relieved, and the President 
and his Cal)inet safe, than, by the influence of Mr. Stanton, General McClellan was again 
removed from the command of the Army of the Potomac, when upon the verge of battle, 
and onlered into retirement. 

You call up the ghosts of the departed soldiers. Be assured. General McClellan's sleep 
will not be disturbed by them; but what must be the broken slumbers of those who are 
responsible for the tens of thousands lost by Pope, and Burnside, and Hooker, in attempting 
to carry out what the President called his " phm." and the hundred and fifty thousand lost 
since the 4th of May, south of the Rapidun, and what must be the dreams of the President 
who couM, amidst the groans of the dying that lay upon the gory field of Antietam, call for 
the singing of a ribald song ? 

In times like these we want some other than the weak and vacillating President who assured 
Mr. Crittenden and the patriots that accompanied him from Kentucky that they might go 
home ami inform their friends that he would not violate their rights and interests by any 
proclamation of emancipation. Before these assurances could be transmitted to the people 
of Kentucky his promises had been broken, and just such a proclamation, violating all these 
pledges, was issued. 

If any State has done nobly, and earned distinction for pure patriotism under the most 
trying, dreadful suflerings of this war in which a whole people have been despoiled, families 
embittered against families, and members of the same family against each other to that extent 
that harmony can never again prevail, it is the State of Kentucky; and if there is any one 
State that should have had influence with the Administration, it is that State. But her 
voice, amidst the din and blood of battle, has never been heard, or, if heard for the moment, 
it has been soon lost under the influence of Massachusetts, aided by the demon yells of radical 
men, who cried out extermination, and in the same breath proclaimed a higher law than the 
Constitution, which they denounce as a covenant only with hell. 

The people of the South are members of the same national family with us ; they must be 
brought back by continued force, if they will not come back by consent. But we must respect 
their rights, whatever they are. There is no more power in the President of the United States to 
control whatever right of property there may remain to them in the slave on the day on which 
they lay down their arms, than there is in the sheriff to insist that the poor culprit, who has 
violated the law in the most outrageous manner, shall be deprived of his food or his clothing, 
prior to his execution. The military authority of the President during the existence of the 
war, can apply only to personal property in the actual j)ossession of the army, and all military 
authority ceases the moment peace is restored, and the only authority that can be exercised 
over the same from the moment hostilities cease, is lodged in the Constitutions and laws of the 
States, and the United States, whose mandates he, by the Constitution, is bound by his oath 
to obey. Very respectfully, &c., 

HENRY M. NAGLEE. 

Ho.\. William D. Kelley, Philadelphia. 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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